This proved to be a significant problem, for an editor had seen the hint of a spark in him, and had secured for him a contract to complete an illustrated book called “Where the Wild Horses Are.”

Sendak recalled his formidable editor’s “acid tones. She said, ‘Maurice, what can you draw?’ Okay. Cause she was investing in a full color picture book. That was an enormous thing back then.”

Sitting shiva for a family member and encountering an array of much older, distant and alarmingly disheveled relatives whose appearance and behavior was a wild curiosity to him and his sister inspired Sendak to write another book entirely.

Sendak’s youth harbored indelibly dark places. He recalled listening to radio reports about the Limburgh baby, whom he thought of as gold-dusted royalty: how could Sendak, a poor city boy, survive if that golden boy could not?

And he recalled flinging a ball high against a wall in an alley way between apartment buildings and having his playmate go chasing the ball out into traffic. . . .and then seeing his friend’s lifeless body as if he were flying through the air.

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About Stephanie

In her spare time, Stephanie works full-time, and then some, as an attorney. She has published articles and delivered talks in arcane fields like forensic evidentiary issues, jury instructions, and expert scientific witness preparation. She also is an adjunct professor at a law school on the banks of the Charles and loves that dirty water, as she will always think of Boston as her home.
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9 Responses to The Hint of a Spark

The quote Jim chose for under his portrait in our junior high school yearbook profoundly stated: “When you get lemons, make lemonade.” At the time, I alternatively thought it was cool, then corny, then cool….but I was a pre-teen and that is the mindset. It turns out that it was a very accurate quote for a flexible, positive guy.

So, my take on this most wonderful post is, if you can’t draw horses, draw monsters. Makes for a much better book anyway.